It makes number one on Cracked's list of Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help. Their reasoning: People who drive high MPG cars drive more than people who don't, thus using even more gas. Of course, since my 2006 Prius has just a tad over 30,000 miles, this doesn't mean me (also, I actually use my reusable bags). And yes, some genius in the comments section brings up the thoroughly-discredited "Canadian nickel" urban legend.
Remember the CNW "dust to dust" study? The one that said that gave the Prius 100,000 miles to amortize costs and jack up its cost/mile? If you read their "Why 100,000 Miles for Prius.pdf" they say Funny how CNW came up with an entirely different result. It's almost like their study might be questionable.
Their logic escapes me...I drive as many miles as I have to...no more, no less, regardless of the make or model of my vehicle. I drive quite a bit, about 40,000 miles per year, that was the case when I drove a 17mpg van, it was the same when I drove a 26mpg crossover and is the same with my 46mpg+ Prius. My Prius certainly has a lower environmental and economic impact each year than that gas-guzzling van did.
Possible conclusions: 1) People who buy hybrids are tempted to drive more. 2) People who drive more tend to buy hybrids. Cracked went with the first conclusion because it is more sensational.
Sure, i drive more than I would if I had a guzzler. I drive back to Ohio every year instead of flying - it may not save on gas (passenger airlines average around 49 passenger-miles per gallon... which means driving the Prius is about equal, depending on the specific airplane), but it saves a ton on cost! A flight could cost $300 or more round trip. Driving costs 4 tanks of gas ground trip (plus wear and tear on the car, of course).
I love the comments where someone authoritatively points out to everyone how we pollute the air more from byproducts of all the plugging in we do (since so many of us own plug-ins...). It must be something that was spouted on Fox at some point - I had a friend from high school who now idolizes Glenn Beck ask me if I had also taken the charging costs into consideration at my fillups.
Notice how these cynics rain on anything? Everything is futile. Maybe they get a sense of superiority doing this, but I doubt they are very happy. I'd still rather be doing something.
The last part about the prius just doesn't make sense and is quite comical! I am not "tempted" to drive more because I have a prius. My last car was a 1983 volvo that got 20-25 mpg and I put about 12,000 miles on it each year that I owned it. Last year I recorded 11778 miles on my 2010 Prius. So, in order to use more gasoline than I was using, I would have to drive over 24,000 miles. That is something that I could not see myself doing, because that is a lot of miles per year. I would have to drive 12,000 miles just "for the fun of it."
Yeah, that's what happens when people watch garbage like Top Gear and take what they say as fact w/o thinking. Sigh...
OK, I'll admit to driving more because I drive a Prius! I live in Colorado and do a lot of hiking. I've done all the close hikes many times, I like to explore and find new hikes. Not unusal to drive 50 miles round trip (1 gallon/ $3.50). In my truck or GF's SUV that would be 3 gallons / $10.50. If I did not drive a Prius, I would probably skip a few of those new hikes. Last summer coming back from a river trip, we decided to take the long scenic way home. Added 150 miles to the weekend, but for $10 we saw a part of Colorado that I have never seen before, would I have done that for $30+???
Correlation does not imply causality. Anyone who understands that basic scientific principle is immediately expelled from journalism.
We have put 36k miles on our 2010 Prius since July 2009. But we traded an AWD 2000 V8 Explorer that got around 11mpg so if we drove that 12k miles a year we would have to drive 44k miles or more to use more gas so...no worries.
I would say this study is factual. And before anyone hangs me hear me out. Since I bought my Prius I do drive more. On my days off from work and my 100 mile round trip commute, my wife and I remove the car seats from my gas guzzling v8 Jeep commander and put them in the Prius for our errands about town. So I most definitely drive more in my Prius but I drive alot less in my commander. See they left out the other half of the story. Just my two cents... and 62mpg.
6 Socially Conscious Actions That Only Look Like They Help | Cracked.com posted by the jackass Elsydeon are people this stupid?....yes he pal. do you see that big trench in Panama? it's called a canal. and while we're at it lets compare a compact car with a mid-sized car......again
